Searching For Hope
by Holyknightsteve
Summary: He disappeared right before her very eyes, but Rikku refuses to believe that Tidus is really gone. To put her heart to rest, she goes to the last place that she ever wanted to visit to find her answers... RikkuXTidus


A/N: Hey everyone! This is my special Valentine's Day fic to y'all! Hope you enjoy it!

Note: The fic serves as a sort of quasi-sequel to Hoshiko Shinomori's fic "Takara". All references to said story are made with her permission. Additionally, I do not own Final Fantasy X. Square Enix does. Any material not found within said game are of my own or Hoshiko Shinomori's creation.

Extra Note: Obviously, this fic is suggesting that the ending was different than it actually was, with Rikku taking Yuna's place on the airship in the end.

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**_Searching For Hope_**

Rikku did her best to stand at attention as Yuna gave her speech to the thousands of people that had gathered in the blitzball arena. However, she often found herself staring into space and becoming lost in her own thoughts. As one of Yuna's guardians, she should have been paying at least a little bit more attention to what was going on here and now, not to what happened just the other day aboard the airship.

However, this proved to be too difficult for her to do.

_Tears streamed down Rikku's cheeks as she watched Tidus walk away from the party and towards the edge of the airship. He had said it was his time to go. Tidus understood why he had to go, as did everyone else, even Yuna. However, Rikku herself couldn't understand why things had to end like this. Just because the "dream" was over, did it really mean that he had to vanish along with it? _

What made this worse was that, not terribly long ago, her and Tidus had finally confessed their feelings for each other. Could she really allow it to end like this? Did Tidus want this end, or did he simply feel like this was just something he had to do? She just couldn't understand.

"Tidus!" she yelled as he neared the edge. Without even thinking and while ignoring the protests of her companions, she dashed full speed at him. He turned to her and smiled as she neared him. He opened his arms, ready to catch her. She dived, hoping he would catch her. However, all she did was pass right through his slightly transparent form, nearly sending her over the edge in the process.

Shaken, she stood up with tears streaming down her cheeks. She turned back to him, saying nothing. The expression on her face told all though. "Why?" it seemed to ask. "Why does it have to be like this?"

Tidus forced a smile, not wanting to make her any sadder than she already was. Although he couldn't truly do so physically now, he gestured with his hand so that it looked like his hand was on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Rikku," he said quietly. "It just has to be like this." Hearing nothing in response except the tears that said more than any mere words could, he then gestured so that it looked as if his hand were on her cheek. She looked up at him, her expression unchanging. "I love you," he whispered.

Rikku wanted to throw her arms around him but knew that was impossible now. In an almost inaudible whisper, she said "I love you too."

He smiled and slowly passed through her, leaving a chilling yet strangely comfortable feeling in her entire body. Casting one last glance back at Rikku, he waved to his friends and winked at Rikku. His farewells complete, he crossed his arms across his chest and fells backwards off the airship and into the clouds below him.

Rikku's vision slowly blurred back into being as she was awakened abruptly from her moment of spacing out by Lulu tapping on her shoulder. "Rikku? Hey. Are you okay?"

Rikku never turned to have her weary eyes meet Lulu's. She merely nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"Rikku…"

Rikku shook her head. "It won't happen again. Don't worry."

Lulu sighed and turned back to the cheering audience. "If it's consolation Rikku, I'm… sorry for your loss."

Rikku turned to the gothic-looking woman. "Huh?"

Lulu lowered her head. "We will all miss him and Sir Auron as friends and companions…" Her head raised but her gaze remained fixated in front of her. "…but we all know what Tidus meant to you. I wish I knew why things had to be like this. However, I… it's just something that I can't explain."

Rikku said nothing more and tried to face the crowd, putting on the bravest face that she could muster. This did not last, however, for when Yuna began to speak of the sacrifices made to bring peace back to Spira, the tears flowed freely once again from Rikku's eyes. Unable to keep up appearances any longer, Rikku broke away from her friends and ran off.

"H-he can't be dead!" she cried. "He just can't be!" Wiping away some of the tears from her face, she slowly reached into one of her side-pouches and withdrew a small wooden box. Upon opening it, a small metal Chocobo inside began to spin around as a beautiful melody played.

_"The song that's playing is called Treasure. That's what you are to me. You're my takara, my treasure, and I wouldn't give you away for the world." _

She sank to her knees as she brought the music box closer to her ears. "Tidus… Tidus… are you… are you really dead? I saw you disappear but… I just can't accept the fact that you'd just fade completely from our world."

She stood up and looked at the music box again before she held it close to her heart. "I… I have to know for sure what happened to you. If you're not really dead, then I… I…"

"Rikku!" yelled Wakka from behind her. "What'chu doin' girl? We 'sposed to stick wit' Yuna!"

Rikku closed the lid on her music box and shook her head. "I'm sorry! I have to go!" With that, she quickly turned around and ran away from her friends.

"Rikku! Rikku!" called Wakka. "What's dat girl up to?"

"Leave her be Wakka," said Lulu quietly without looking in his direction.

"Uh?" grunted Wakka.

She closed her eyes. "She has some things to sort out for herself. Her presence here isn't necessary. I'm sure Yuna will understand."

Wakka sighed, defeated. "Ah, if you say so." Looking to his left, he had noticed that the always quiet Kimahri was now gone as well. "Eh? Where did he go?"

Lulu looked over in surprise. "Huh?"

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Rikku stared in fear at the shimmering gate leading to the Farplane. Rikku had never liked the Farplane as the idea behind it just seemed plain creepy to her. To her, it all just seemed so unnatural to her. She remembered telling Tidus once that "Memories are nice, but they're just that: memories." Being able to see the departed just by thinking about them just didn't seem right to her.

After his visit to the Farplane, Tidus had told her that he had seen her mother there but not his father, no matter how hard he tried to picture him. Yuna had presumed that Jecht was alive after-all. She had no clue how right she was at the time.

Now Rikku stood before the gate to the place she had long disliked, looking for answers. If she saw Tidus here, then it would mean that he had truly died. However, even if she didn't see him here, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. If all traces of him had vanished from Spira, then, live or dead, he wouldn't show up on the Farplane. How would she sort this out? She had no idea of where to start, but she knew that she had to try anyway. Taking a deep breath, she passed through the portal that took her to vantage point beyond.

Rikku was alone. It seemed that no one was here to "visit" the departed today, which was fine with her. She felt that she needed to be alone for the time being anyway. She closed her eyes and began to walk forward. "How do I do this? Let's see…"

She opened her eyes and gasped. Standing around her were a number of mask-less Al-Bhed. They smiled hollow smiles as their weapons rested easily upon their shoulders. "M-my friends from Home!" She looked around her, unbelieving of what she was seeing. "So vneahtc! Ruf yna oui?"

No response.

"Kioc? Yna oui-"

She gasped again. She had completely forgotten that the images seen on the Farplane were just that: images. They couldn't see, hear, or otherwise perceive Rikku. They may as well have been mirages to her. Regaining her composure, she whispered a prayer for her friends and closed her eyes.

"Okay, calm down Rikku," she told herself. "You're here to find Tidus… Tidus…"

This was it. Now that she had thought of him, his image was sure to appear on the Farplane, assuming that he truly was dead. Once she opened her eyes, at least some truth would be revealed to her. Was it something that she wanted to see though? Whether or not she did, she knew she had to. If she didn't, her heart would never be the same again. She HAD to know what happened to him.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked forward. Nothing.

"Tidus?"

Still nothing.

"Detic?"

Saying his name in Al-Bhed had produced the same results as first attempt. What this meant now was that he wasn't dead. Still, this meant very little. At best, not seeing Tidus on the Farplane eliminated of the three possible fates for him. Now she had to eliminate one or the other. But how would she do it?

"Think Rikku, think!" she said to herself over and over again as she tapped on her head. Strong visions of Tidus kept flashing through her mind. His smile. His laugh. The warmth of his body when they embraced. It all seemed so close to her now. So close that she really thought that she could feel it.

Despite all of this, she could not figure out a way to learn of Tidus' fate. Frustrated and heartbroken, she fell to her knees and began to sob. "I-I can't give up! I have to figure this out somehow!" She took the music box out of her pouch and listened to its melody once more, hoping it would provide some sort of inspiration. However, all it served to do was cause Rikku to cry even more than she already was.

"I-it's not fair!" cried Rikku as she let he free hand pound the ground. "If we would've never fought Sir Jecht, Tidus would've never-… Jecht?" "She closed her eyes and rolled Jecht's name over and over again in her mind. It seemed to have some sort of significance that she had not yet realized.  
"Jecht was… Tidus' dad, right? They were both from the "dream" Zanarkand, right? I know that Sir Jecht died, so… if he shows up here, then that means that he was as real as real could be, and since Tidus didn't appear earlier…"

She had it figured out now. Jecht was the key to discovering Tidus' true fate. All she had to do know was think of Jecht and open her eyes. Her final answer was close at hand. Like before, she was afraid to open her eyes but knew that she had to do so. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

Jecht stood before her, his body motionless and his face expressionless. His unfocused gaze seemed to pierce directly into Rikku's soul as she felt her breath almost literally being taken away. She didn't know how to react his presence. She was happy beyond words to know that Tidus was still alive, but she wasn't sure about how to react to it. Deep in her heart, she already knew what she had to do.

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The portal to the Farplane rippled as Rikku strolled quietly and gracefully through it. Lost in thought, she nearly tripped over the steps, just catching herself at the last moment. Looking down, she saw Kimahri waiting for her at the bottom of the steps. Saying nothing at first, she quickly mad her way down the steps until she was on level ground with the powerful Ronso. She looked up at his proud face, not saying anything. Nothing needed to be said.

Kimahri held out his large hand palm-down as if he wanted to give Rikku something. "Tidus give to Kimahri, so Kimahri give to Rikku."

Reaching out, she opened her hand and into it dropped a small trinket. She brought it close to her face to examine it. Her eyes opened as wide as they could when she saw what it was: it was the winged blitzball charm that she had given him in that snowy village in what seemed like such a long time ago. She brought it to her lips to kiss it and then she attached it to one of her belt loops.

Kimahri withdrew his hand. "Tidus live."

Rikku looked at him, surprised. "Y-you know that?"

Without motioning, he said, "Kimahri can see in Rikku's eyes. Kimahri knows now." He turned around briefly, pointed away from the Farplane Gate, and turned back to her. "Tidus live. Rikku find Tidus."

She nodded. "I will. I promise." She briefly hugged Kimahri and began to walk away. "Hey… Kimahri?"

"Mmm?" grunted the Ronso.

Hopeful tears glistening on her cheeks, she turned around and smiled at him. "Tell everyone I'll be back… someday." She turned back around and walked away. "And… I'll bring Tidus with me too."

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Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Please leave feedback!


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